InfoWorld Blogger Poses as Analyst

InfoWorld revealed Sunday that Randall C. Kennedy, a columnist and blogger for the site, had led a dual life: in addition to his role as a blogger, Kennedy also assumed the fictitious name of Paul Barth, chief technical officer of Devil Mountain Software.

InfoWorld revealed Sunday that Randall C. Kennedy, a columnist and blogger for the site, had led a dual life: in addition to his role as a blogger, Kennedy also assumed the fictitious name of Craig Barth, chief technical officer of Devil Mountain Software.

Kennedy's blog will be removed from the site, InfoWorld said. However, other contributions that Kennedy made will remain.

"Over the past 10 years, Kennedy has contributed valuable information on
Windows performance and other technical issues to InfoWorld and its
readers -- insight and analysis we still believe to be accurate and
reliable," Eric Knorr, the editor-in-chief at Infoworld, wrote.

That means, apparently, that several stories about or citing Barth as a source, mostly written by Gregg Keizer, will remain on the site. Keizer, in the meantime, has written his own explanation and apology.

As Barth, Kennedy served as a source for several InfoWorld stories, some
highly critical of Microsoft and assorted products. PCMag.com or its
associated blogs, including AppScout, never spoke to Barth/Kennedy, and
neither did we link to any of the stories quoting him, save one.

In some instances, the decision not to quote or cite the Infoworld
stories was a decision not to promote a rival's stories; in others, it
was simply because we didn't buy Barth's research or opinions. In any
event, I believe where the system failed was that the reporter didn't
vet his sources appropriately.

Kennedy (or someone posing as him) has apparently come
to his own defense in comments attached to a ZDNet story on the
subject, claiming that he voluntarily resigned and that he was the
victim of a conspiracy.

In a conversation we had at our own daily meeting, editor-in-chief Lance Ulanoff
commented that this was an issue we ourselves might have had to deal
with if we were to use more freelancers. After some thought, I disagree.
As a public blogger, using his real identity, Kennedy's insights and
commentary could be picked apart and exposed. But as Craig Blarth,
Kennedy presented "research" whose origins were not as easily
determined. InfoWorld presented that research as fact. Unfortunately,
that research can no longer be trusted, even though Kennedy apparently
still defends its accuracy.

EDIT: The original version of this post cited Paul Blarth as Kennedy's fictitious name.Back to top